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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 15th, 2026–Mar 16th, 2026

Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

Northwest Coastal, Northwest Inland, Boundary, Kitimat, Nass, Rupert, Seven Sisters, Shames, Stewart, Howson.

Hazard will increase throughout the day as storm slabs build.

A buried weak layer means that triggering very large avalanches is possible.

Confidence

Moderate

  • Deep persistent slabs could become more likely with the forecast weather.
  • We are confident a natural avalanche cycle will begin shortly after the arrival of the incoming weather.

Avalanche Summary

On Friday, skiers near Terrace remotely triggered a cornice, which resulted in a large (size 3) persistent slab. This occurred on an east aspect in the alpine and failed on the Feb 7th crust. Several other natural cornice failures were reported, some triggering large (size 2-3) wind slabs on the slopes below.

On Monday, reactive storm slabs will build throughout the day. Be especially cautious in wind-loaded areas and where they overlie surface hoar, facets and/or a crust.

Snowpack Summary

30 cm of new snow or more will fall by Monday morning covering surface hoar and facetted snow from recent cold temperatures. In open areas, strong southerly winds will be redistributing new snow, creating wind-affected surfaces. A crust can be found below this snow up to 1600 m.

The mid snowpack, down 100 to 150 cm, weak layers of surface hoar, facets and crusts remain a concern, especially where there is no crust above. Triggering of these layers is becoming less likely, but remains at a depth where human triggering is possible.

The remaining snowpack is generally well settled and well bonded.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night
Cloudy. 35 to 45 cm of snow. 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

Monday
Cloudy with 35 to 50 mm of precipitation. Freezing levels will rise to 2000 m overnight and then fall to 1000 m by Monday afternoon. Southwest ridgetop wind at 60 km/h. Treeline temperature- 1 °C.

Tuesday
Mostly cloudy. 20 to 30 cm of snow. 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C.

Wednesday
Mostly cloudy. 4 to 15 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Any travel under High danger should exclusively be in flat or gentle terrain, far away from any overhead hazard.
  • Storm slab size and sensitivity to triggering will likely increase through the day.
  • As the storm slab problem worsens, the easy solution is to choose more conservative terrain.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.